PURCHASE, N.Y.–Mastercard is removing its name from its logo in most contexts, leaving the interlocking red and yellow circles to represent the brand on cards and even in its advertising.
The move is part of an effort by the company to downplay the “card” in “Mastercard” as new payment methods and technologies spread, according to the Wall Street Journal. It also places the company among a small group of marketers such as Apple, Nike and Target that have preferred to go by visual symbols alone.
According to Mastercard, it conducted more than 20 months of worldwide research to make sure people could identify it from the logo even without text.
“You can never be arrogant and say, ‘I’m iconic, and let me go ahead and drop my brand name,’” Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer at Mastercard told the Journal.
Debbie Millman, chair of the Masters in Branding program at the School of Visual Arts, told the Journal it’s a move only a few companies can really make.
“The only brands that are able to do this have developed a logo with global recognition over decades,” she was quoted as saying. “It takes time, consistency and a good logo to begin with to be able to do this effectively.”